Conventionally, a vehicular headlight (headlamp) has its light axis fixed so that the vehicular headlamp illuminates in a front direction of a vehicle. Alternatively, if a vehicle is turning at a curve or the like, a vehicular headlamp is controlled so that its illumination direction is horizontally changed depending on a turn direction.
Also, an invention concerning a light distribution controlling device has been disclosed (see Patent Document 1 for example). The light distribution controlling device controls a headlamp while a car-mounted navigation device is executing a route guide so that the headlamp illuminates in a direction to be guided prior to an intersection or a bifurcation point of a toll road. This device illuminates in the direction to be guided by widening an area to be illuminated in the direction to be guided through use of an auxiliary illuminating device, or by changing an illumination direction of the headlamp closer to the direction to be guided.
An invention concerning another light distribution controlling device for a headlamp has also been disclosed (see Patent Document 2 for example). The other light distribution controlling device for a headlamp controls at least one of an illumination direction of the headlamp and an area to be illuminated by the headlamp based on a path to be followed by a vehicle and a shape of a road in a traveling direction so that a position to be viewed by a driver is illuminated. This device interprets a command signal when the command signal indicative of the route to be followed is entered from a navigation unit. If the command signal includes a direction indicating signal, the device recognizes a shape of a road through the image processing of a front view image from the vehicle captured by a camera. If the recognized shape of the road matches the direction indicating signal, the device controls at least one of the illumination direction of the headlamp and the area to be illuminated by the headlamp.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-193026    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H07-032935